Original Observer photography: January

Kwame Kwei-Armah and St Vincent in the States, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Italy and Hanif Kureishi and Vicky McClure in London. They all feature here in our monthly showcase of the best photography commissioned by the Observer in January

Artist Linder Sterling pictured on Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, Cornwall. The artist recalled the thrill of punk, graveyard walks with Morrissey and her 'audacious' punk porn collages in a Q&A with the New Review.Jim Wileman: 'I met Linder in St Ives the day before the winter storm Hercules was due to hit hard. After shooting in her studio, we moved to Porthmeor Beach, where we lasted about five minutes before heading for shelter. Managed a few nice portraits with Linder's hair flying around'

Jazz Carlin tested swimming gadgets for Observer Tech Monthly at Wales National Pool, Swansea.Katherine Rose: 'Shooting Jazz Carlin underwater was a lot of fun. Composing a shot whilst my body was slowly rising to the surface proved a challenge, so I had my assistant hold me underwater while I was shooting. At one point he was standing on my shoulders! I later learned that the professionals use weights'

Hanif Kureishi photographed at his home in west London to accompany an interview in the New Review.Antonio Olmos: 'In 1985 I decided to become a photographer. I had no idea where photography would take me. I remember going to the Tower Cinema in Fresno, California, to watch the British movie My Beautiful Launderette. I remember being fascinated at how exotic London seemed and I never imagined I would ever live there or photograph famous British writers. He didn't seemed thrilled about being photographed for the millionth time. I told him about my vivid memory of seeing his movie and my amazement now at being at his house. He seemed to warm to me after that'

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon photographed on the Italian Riviera on the set of the second series of Michael Winterbottom's TV show The Trip in Camogli for a cover feature in OFM.Sarah Lee: 'It was a tricky shoot as there was very little time. Winterbottom works fast and wasn't delighted with my 'stealing' his entire cast. I had 15 minutes for this setup. Sourcing the lobster had proved surprisingly hard - it didn't help that in jest I'd replied "pinchiclauri" when the producer asked me the Italian for lobster. He believed me and went round all the local fishmongers saying "vorrei un pinchiclauri" and getting blank looks'

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon shot for the cover feature of OFM in Camogli, Italy.Sarah Lee: 'In the end Rob and Steve were great. They really played ball and gave me exactly what I was after. Both actors were delighting in each other's company and that spilled over to our shoot. They really liked the Lady and the Tramp idea and even though we'd run out of time for it and they had to run off and shoot a scene for the film, they took five minutes out of their lunch break later in the day to do it in a quick setup'

In a special Brazil edition of Observer Magazine, Ines Ferreira de Abril was one of the many ordinary Brazilians who spoke about life in their country. She was photographed at Favela da Indiana, 10 minutes from the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro

Rupert Grint photographed at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, where the former Harry Potter star is making his stage debut as a drug dealer in Jez Butterworth's Mojo. He spoke to the New Review about the experience

Observer Tech Monthly gathered together tech entrepreneurs in different cities around the UK and sent Suki Dhanda to photograph them for the feature. Here the tech movers and shakers of Belfast are photographed at the historic Harland and Wolff Drawing Office One in the Titanic Quarter.Suki Dhanda: 'I really enjoyed the six shoots. Finding the right location for each was the key element. I wanted to avoid a lineup, to create variety in the project, so I placed them in staggered and sitting positions wherever possible. I was giving a running commentary to make sure I kept everyone's attention and they kept their eyes open!'

Vicky McClure photographed in the Observer studio in London for the New Review. The star of This Is England and Line of Duty spoke to Elizabeth Day about strong women, her family's reaction to difficult storylines – and how Kate Moss became a fan

Actor Eileen Atkins inside the San Wanamaker Playhouse, the Globe Theatre's new indoor stage, where she is to perform a one-woman show. She gave the benefit of her wisdom to the Observer Magazine's This Much I Know

The Observer fashion team gave their usual cracking advice: 'Throw caution to the wind and invest in the perfect dress to get the new season off to a bright start. Choose from a pixellated print on silk, a leopard or geometric print, a simple stripe or girly pink. Then team it with a woolly coat or bomber jacket to keep the chill at bay'.You can see more of Kevin's shoot from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex and check out more top fashion tips here

Labour party politician Gloria De Piero was interviewed by Tracy McVeigh and photographed at a Morrisons Store in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire.Tracy McVeigh: 'We had gone to meet her in the supermarket's cafe. With its wall of windows looking out on a roundabout, it is not a photographer's dream location. There was a photographer there for the Sun, and he was taking the mickey with time. De Piero had a train to catch and we had 30 minutes each but this bloke wouldn't let up, asking her to pose all around the shop, hat on, hat off, moving people around. After a heated intervention I got a 10-minute interview, leaving Tony about three minutes to get his picture. But he just pointed to a shelf I hadn't noticed and asked her to jump up. She was laughing as she scrambled up and in a minute he had the shot. De Piero caught her train'

Musician St Vincent, aka Annie Clark, was photographed in the East Village, New York City.Mike McGregor: 'She was lovely and totally easy to work with. She did her own makeup, came up with the location and was game. If only everyone was so willing to collaborate (and so striking!)

Actor Ty Burrell photographed at the Soho Hotel in London for This Much I Know in the Observer Magazine.Suki Dhanda: 'I thought I would try something humorous. I had two shots set up in the hotel room: 1. stepping out of a cupboard, 2. in the bathroom looking into the mirror. His American PR walked in for inspection and said: 'Um, we don't really like him looking too zany, so I don't think this'll work' … Back to the drawing board! That's why we kept it safe and just used the curtains as a backdrop'

Academic and author Barbara Taylor was photographed at her home in north London to accompany an extract in the Observer Magazine from her powerful memoir of her time as a psychiatric patient at one of Britain's last mental asylums